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The Holy Grail of the Modern Period - A Menstrual Cup Review

Monday, 12 December 2016

It's time for me to talk about something that I have been using for a few months now and that I wish I had started using before: the menstrual cup. I'm going to warn you now, if talking about periods is the type of thing that makes you all prudish and run away, now is the time for you to do so before things become a bit more graphic. Personally, I have absolutely no problem talking about something as natural as periods but I know some women like to pretend they don't exist.

I had heard about the cup years ago: our cousin lived in Canada and she was already telling us about it in 2005! At the time, I was 16 and this weird thing that she was talking about was the last of my preoccupations.

Recently though, I've noticed an increasingly open-minded view of it and I was myself definitely considering having a go at it but I kept postponing it to the next month until that day last Summer. We were planning to go to the beach with my friend Nathalia and here is how it went:

Me: "Oh damn, I forgot I have my period, do you have a tampax?"

Nathalia: "Are you actually serious??? You're 27 and it's 2016, woman, what on earth are you still doing with your tampax and pads? The cup is the future, you seriously need to move on!"

Ok, the Middle Ages called, they want their sanitary protections back. The day after, I was at the shop getting myself one.

The reason I've decided to talk about this here is because I've had quite a rocky start with it and the first time I tried it, I got discouraged and stopped using it after two days. Despite that, I persisted (thanks to some support and answers to my questions from Nathalia) and I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that it changed my life. There is honestly no way I'll ever go back.

But here are the main problems I had at first:

-I couldn't take it out and freaked out (Nathalia: "you need to push like you're going to the toilet!")

-I tried to take it out using the stem and found it difficult (because it's not meant for it and I found out later that you actually need to pinch the bottom)

-I struggled to place it properly and it was unpleasant/made me want to wee more than usual (but that comes with time)

After two cycles, those problems disappeared and now it's just amazing and I actually wonder how I could spend so many years using protections that are:

-Uncomfortable

-Not very hygienic

-Toxic (if you speak a bit of French, you might want to have a look at that petition)

-Unsustainable

-A waste of money

A cup costs about £15 and lasts for years. It's completely hygienic (provided you follow the instructions) and it's made with surgical silicon. No more discomfort, no more money wasted and no more chemicals in contact with your intimacy.

I honestly can't tell how happy I am I made that change and I truly believe that one day people will say "Can you imagine? Back in the days, women used to use nappies when they had their periods!" That's already how I have started to think and I wonder how I could cope with so many years of using medieval protections.

Nathalia, you're right, the cup IS the future and it is my turn to pass on the info to other women like you did to me.

Now if you're not sure what on earth a menstrual cup is, you might find some useful information here.

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29 comments:

That's my main thing with the cup it making me wanting to pee more. I can't push it any further so I'm wondering what I'm doing wrong, I find it so much better to use but that want of needing to pee more is so annoying. X

I really do think that the cup is the way of the future and most will look back at pads and tampons and wonder what we were about with using them. There are still many that hesitate to even try them though, so it may still take a while.

I have read about these cups through a charity that was distributing them to third world countries where girls do not have access to sanitary towels and the cups are ideal as they are reusable. They sound like a great idea.

My friend's sister is always going on about how great these are but I'm still too afraid to take the plunge and try it out myself! Sounds like it's now working out great for you after some initial difficulty though so I'll look into it again.

'when women wore nappies for their period' - I've never thought about it that way! I've always wanted to try a moon cup but I've heard a lot of disaster stories. Would imagine I'd have to try it when I wasn't at work just in case!